Current ONS employment stats report record high employment levels

The Office of National Statistics report that last quarters employment levels continue to rise and unemployment continues to fall across Great Britain, continuing the trend of the past two years. ONS headline figures are now:

• EMPLOYMENT:
• UNEMPLOYMENT:
• ECONOMICALLY INATIVE: There are 8.78m people aged 16 – 64 who are out of work but not seeking or available to work. This is 67K fewer than last quarter and 258K fewer than a year ago. At 21.7% this is again the lowest since ONS records began in 1971.
• PAY: Employee pay including bonuses for this last quarter was 0.3% higher than a year earlier. Excluding bonuses, pay was 0.7% higher.

• There are now 30.64 million people in work, 254K more than last quarter and 929K more than a year ago.
• A record 73.1% of people aged 16-64 are in work, the highest since records began in 1971.

• 2.12m are unemployed, 121K less than last quarter and 383K less than a year ago.
• Unemployment rate continues to fall, to 6.5%, the lowest since Q4 2008.